Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair [Board book]

Julie Appel (Author), Amy Guglielmo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2006 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Touch the Art

The mysterious Mona Lisa could use a little grooming—so go ahead and brush her long black hair! Continue with the Old Masters by touching the large, lacy collar of Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier, petting the horse’s tail in Velazquez’s Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback, and arranging the snappy elastic hair in Boticcelli’s The Birth of Venus. Other paintings come from Vermeer, de la Tour, Raphael, and Van Eyck.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K—These board books, illustrated with some of the most famous Western masterpieces, encourage children to "touch the art." Each volume draws on a particular period, with Mona Lisa's Hair featuring the work of the Renaissance and Van Gogh's Bed the Impressionists. For each reproduction, a tactile element has been superimposed; for example, an earring on Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and a piece of tulle on one of Degas' ballerinas. In some cases the feature is small and somewhat hard to find (the fuzz on the peaches in a Cézanne still life, the eyeglasses on the man in Grant Wood's American Gothic), despite the relatively large size of the books. Each selection is identified and accompanied by a brief text. The text of Mona Lisa's Hair is mostly interrogative and less engaging than the other books. It asks, "Do you have a mustache too?" Will children find this silly or condescending? Matisse's Fish opts for a more successful format, with the repetitive refrain of "What a busy day!" Van Gogh's Bed features a lively rhyming scheme, while that in Warhol's Top is more forced (delicious/nutritious/lettuce/messes). The final pages of the books include a date, location, and a description, along with biographical information on the artist for each "artifact." While the idea of introducing children to art at an early age is a noble one, pairing the touch-and-feel format to fine paintings doesn't quite work.—Robin L. Gibson, Granville Parent Cooperative Preschool, OH
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Board book: 20 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (October 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402735669
• ISBN-13: 978-1402735660
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great touch and feel art book!, April 16, 2008

By 

Little Lana's Mommy (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (Board book)

We love this book! Brush Mona Lisa's hair has works of art that remind me of an art history class I took in college, but with touch and feel! My daughters (3 yrs old and 18 months old) love books so we have alot of them, and this one is a winner!

This book includes:

Mona Lisa- Leonardo Da Vinci

Price Balthasar Carlos on Horseback- Diego Velazquez

The Birth of Venus- Sandro Botticelli

The Laughing Cavalier- Frans Hals

The Arnolfini Portrait- Jan van Eyck

Portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza and Their Triumph- Piero della Francesca

Girl with a Peal Earring- Johannes Vermeer

The Card Sharp- Georges de la Tour

Sistine Madonna- Raphael

At the end of the book the authors have included a short paragraph about each work of art and the artist who created it.

As with all the books in this series, the art is the star of the book- the words are secondary, and that's fine in this case. The "story line" in this book isn't amazing, and while that would usually annoy me, it doesn't matter much since the touch and feel famous works of art concept is so fantastic! Its a book I love looking at as well as my kids!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, April 18, 2007

By 

Nancy K. Palmer (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (Board book)

I was so excited to get this book. What a fantastic idea - teaching kids about great art from a young age. The selections were good, the textures (Mona Lisa's hair, the trim on the coat of van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait) are appealing. I appreciated the factual blurb with dates, artist information, etc - great for the adult reader. BUT, the actual text is SO uninspired and flat. I love the cadence of Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein and love reading them over and over. Julie Appel's text is awkward and boring. After reading it once, I find I pass it by more often than not. I hope someone takes this general idea and makes a more interesting version.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful for art lovers and their children, August 12, 2007

By 

bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (Board book)

A lovely book from a lovely series of four--my favorites are this one and "Make Van Gogh's Bed." If you are an art lover and want your child to share your enjoyment, this is a great way to pass on some culture in a fun and low-pressure way. They will recognize the art works just because they have seen them in a book, and you will enjoy reading these books again and again. Wish there were more.